Joseph Merrill Hoeffel III ( ; born September 3, 1950) is an American author and politician. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, Hoeffel was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from 1999 to 2005, representing Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district. He also served multiple terms on the

Montgomery County Board of Commissioners The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners is the legislative council and executive arm of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Currently, it has 3 different members. Members of the Board of Commissioners are tasked with managing the county's pr ...

, and from 1977–84, was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. A native of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, he is a graduate of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

and

Temple University School of Law The Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law is the law school of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and enrolls about 530 students. Student body Admission for fall 2019 entering class was highly comp ...

. Hoeffel was an unsuccessful candidate for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in 2004, and for Governor of Pennsylvania in 2010.

Background

Hoeffel was born in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, to Joseph and Eleanore Hoeffel. After graduating from

William Penn Charter School William Penn Charter School (commonly known as Penn Charter or simply PC) is an independent school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1689 at the urging of William Penn as the "Public Grammar School" and chartered in 1689 to be op ...

in 1968, he attended

and earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in English in 1972. He served in the

Army Reserves A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

from 1970 to 1976. He first became involved in politics during the 1972 presidential election, when his opposition to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

led him to support Senator George McGovern. In 1973, he became a legislative aide to Representative

Gerry Studds Gerry Eastman Studds (; May 12, 1937 – October 14, 2006) was an American Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts who served from 1973 until 1997. He was the first openly gay member of Congress. In 1983 he was censured by the House of Re ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, for whom Hoeffel did research on foreign overfishing.

Political career

After working for Studds for a year, Hoeffel challenged four-term

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

incumbent Daniel Beren for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the Abington-based 153rd district, in 1974. He was defeated by 1,505 votes. From 1975 to 1976, he was the Central Montgomery County administrator for the American Red Cross. Hoeffel successfully ran again for state House in 1976, after Beren decided to not seek re-election. He was the first Democrat to represent the Abington area since

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He served from 1977 to 1985. The first bill he passed as a state legislator was a campaign reform proposal in 1978 improving financial disclosure. In 1984, he gave up his seat to run for the

in the 13th congressional district, but was defeated by longtime Republican incumbent Lawrence Coughlin. Hoeffel sought a rematch in 1986, and was defeated again. He received his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

in 1986, and then worked at the

Norristown Norristown may mean: * Norristown, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Norristown, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Norristown, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Norristown, Pennsylvania Norristown is a municipality with home ...

law firms of Wright, Manning, Kinkaid & Oliver (1987–90) and Kane, Pugh & Driscoll (1990–91). After several years out of politics, Hoeffel won a seat on the Montgomery County Commission in 1991. In a surprise to the political establishment, Hoeffel supported Republican Mario Mele for Commission chairman over Jon Fox.

Career in Congress

In 1996, Hoeffel made a third run at Congress, taking on his former colleague on the Montgomery County Commission, Jon Fox, now a first-term Congressman. That year, Fox hung onto his seat by an 84-vote margin. However, in 1998, in his fourth attempt, Hoeffel broke through. Hobbled by a tough Republican primary and the fallout from the impeachment of President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, Fox could not hang on a second time. Hoeffel won by more than 5,000 votes. Hoeffel became only the second Democrat to represent the Montgomery County-based district in 86 years. He won re-election twice, though not without difficulty. In 2000 he won an expensive race against Republican State Senator

Stewart Greenleaf Stewart John Greenleaf Sr. (October 4, 1939 – February 9, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1979 to 2019. Greenleaf represented the 12th District, which includes portion ...

, who represented most of the eastern portion of the congressional district. He thus became the first Democrat to serve more than one term in the district in decades. In 2002, he defeated wealthy ophthalmologist Melissa Brown by less than expected; the 13th had been made somewhat more Democratic with the addition of part of Philadelphia. During the 2002 election, Hoeffel's website was praised as among the best of the 2002 election cycle. In Congress, Hoeffel was a member of two House committees:

International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

and Transportation and Infrastructure. On July 20, 2004, Hoeffel became the third sitting

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in one week, following

Charles Rangel Charles Bernard Rangel (, ; born June 11, 1930) is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the Ho ...

and

Bobby Rush Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician, activist and pastor who served as the U.S. representative for for three decades. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Pant ...

, to be arrested for

trespassing Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, ...

while protesting alleged

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

violations in front of the

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

ese Embassy. U.S. Senator

Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...

, Hoeffel's

opponent in the 2004

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

race, criticized the

arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...

as a publicity stunt. Rather than holding onto his seat, Hoeffel decided in 2004 to run for the

against incumbent Republican

. In the election held on November 2, 2004, Hoeffel was defeated by more than ten points to Specter, 53%-42%, and only carried four counties. Hoeffel was at a considerable disadvantage because of Specter's popularity in the Philadelphia suburbs.

After Congress

Hoeffel endorsed

Bob Casey, Jr. Robert Patrick Casey Jr. (born April 13, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Pennsylvania, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, Casey previously served as Pe ...

for the United States Senate in 2006; Casey defeated incumbent Republican

Rick Santorum Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's third ...

by a wide margin. Hoeffel announced that he would run for lieutenant governor in March 2006 against incumbent

Catherine Baker Knoll Catherine Baker Knoll (September 3, 1930 – November 12, 2008) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. She was the 30th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, serving under Governor Ed Rendell from 2003 to 2008, when she di ...

, but dropped out of the race a day later.

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philade ...

convinced Hoeffel that the Democratic ticket needed geographic balance; Knoll is from Allegheny County; Rendell is from Philadelphia. The Democratic Committees of Bucks and Chester Counties had overwhelmingly voted to endorse him over Knoll. In July 2006, Rendell named Hoeffel the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development where he would oversee the International Commerce Office of the DCED. In February 2007, Hoeffel announced that he would resign his post in order to run for the Montgomery County Commission with incumbent Ruth Damsker. Hoeffel's and Damsker's opponents were incumbent Jim Matthews and district attorney

Bruce Castor Bruce Lee Castor Jr. (born October 24, 1961) is an American lawyer and retired Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was appointed as the first Solicitor General of Pennsylvania in March ...

. Hopes were high that the Democrats could win majority control on the commission due to party gains in the county and a fractured county Republican party. Hoeffel finished second, behind Castor, winning a seat on the Commission, but his running mate fell short, keeping control in Republican hands. However, thanks to a deal with Matthews, Hoeffel became Vice Chairman of the Commission, in exchange for supporting Matthews' bid to become Chairman over Castor.

2010 gubernatorial campaign

On September 20, 2009, Hoeffel announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania. During the campaign, he called for the introduction of a

graduated income tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases.Sommerfeld, Ray M., Silvia A. Madeo, Kenneth E. Anderson, Betty R. Jackson (1992), ''Concepts of Taxation'', Dryden Press: Fort Worth, TX The term ''progr ...

for the state, supported the implementation of a statewide single-payer health care program, stressed his

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pr ...

position on

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

and opposition to

school voucher A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some cou ...

s, and distinguished himself as the only candidate supporting the legalization of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. He received endorsements from

NOW Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

, the

Stonewall Democrats Stonewall Democrats, also known in some states as LGBT Democrats, is a caucus within the Democratic Party that advocates for issues that are relevant to LGBT Americans. The caucus primarily operates through individual chapters or political clubs ...

, the

United Auto Workers The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) ...

, and various local affiliates of

Democracy for America Democracy for America (DFA) is a progressive political action committee, headquartered in Burlington, Vermont. Founded by former Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean in 2004, DFA leads public awareness campaigns on a variety of pub ...

. In the May 18, 2010 primary, he placed fourth out of four candidates, receiving 130,799 votes, or 12.7% of the total votes cast, and winning Montgomery County, though without a majority.

Subsequent political career

Within days of losing the 2010 primary for governor, Hoeffel announced he would seek another term as county commissioner in 2011. He followed

Matthews Matthews may refer to: People * Matthews (surname) Places * Matthews Island, Antarctica * Matthews Range, Kenya * Mount Matthews, New Zealand United States * Matthews, Georgia * Matthews, Indiana * Matthews, Maryland * Matthews, Missouri * Mat ...

, who also initially announced his intention to seek re-election, in withdrawing from the contest in early 2011 and was not renominated by his party. A subsequent grand jury report found questionable behavior on Hoeffel's part for his participation in discussing county business at private breakfast meetings held with Matthews and senior aides–an alleged violation of state

Sunshine laws Freedom of information laws allow access by the general public to data held by national governments and, where applicable, by state and local governments. The emergence of freedom of information legislation was a response to increasing dissatisfa ...

. However, unlike Matthews, who was later alleged to have perjured himself while testifying to the grand jury, Hoeffel was never charged with criminal wrongdoing. On March 10, 2018, Hoeffel announced that he will seek to retake his old congressional seat, now renumbered as the 4th District. A court-ordered remap had cut out the district's share of Philadelphia. Although the new 4th was geographically similar to the area he had represented for his first two terms, he finished a distant third, with only 11 percent of the vote, well behind State Representative and fellow Abingdon resident

Madeleine Dean Madeleine Dean Cunnane (born June 6, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district. The district includes almost all of Montgomery County, a suburban county north of ...

Political positions

Education

According to his campaign website, Hoeffel favors expanded funding for early childhood education programs, drop-out prevention and drop-out reengagement programs and centers, and basic education for school board members. He favors keeping the current

defined benefit pension plan Defined benefit (DB) pension plan is a type of pension plan in which an employer/sponsor promises a specified pension payment, lump-sum, or combination thereof on retirement that depends on an employee's earnings history, tenure of service and age ...

for all teachers over a change to a

defined contribution plan A defined contribution (DC) plan is a type of retirement plan in which the employer, employee or both make contributions on a regular basis. Individual accounts are set up for participants and benefits are based on the amounts credited to these a ...

for new hires. Hoeffel would continue the school funding formula implemented by Governor

to reduce dependence on local property taxes to fund schools.

Labor

Hoeffel has a lifetime 97% rating from the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

and is endorsed by several labor unions in the Philadelphia area.

Abortion

Hoeffel has a 100% rating from

NARAL Pro-Choice America NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

. He is endorsed by former

President

Kate Michelman Kate Michelman (born August 4, 1942) is an American political activist. She is best known for her work in the United States abortion rights movement, particularly as a long-time president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. Career From 1985 to 2004, ...

, and by the Pennsylvania chapter of the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

LGBT rights

He favors amending Pennsylvania's Hate Crimes Law to include crimes targeting

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

people and supports full marriage rights.

Writing

Hoeffel's book about his vote for the Iraq War,
The Iraq Lie: How the White House Sold the War
', was published in 2014 by Progressive Press. Hoeffel provides a first-person account of the Congressional debate on the Iraq War Resolution, and argues that the Bush White House misled Congress and the country and took the United States to war in Iraq under false pretenses. Hoeffel suggests intelligence reforms to prevent such deceptions from happening again. Hoeffel's second book,
Fighting for the Progressive Center in the Age of Trump
', was published in August 2017 by Praeger. In this book, Hoeffel argues that "progressives must fight for the political center of our civic arena with policies that are both socially liberal and fiscally responsible if we want to win the battle for public support against Donald Trump." The book is a mix of policy prescriptions which reject partisan extremes and rigid ideologies, with numerous anecdotes from 25 years serving in elected office at the county, state and federal levels.

Personal life

He has been married for 26 years to Francesca Hoeffel. They live in Abington Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, and have two children. His grandfather, also named Joseph M. "Joe" Hoeffel, served as coach of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in 1921.Hoeffel was star player in high school, college, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/27/01

Congressional electoral history

{, class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%" , + : Results 1996–2002 !, Year ! !, Democrat !, Votes !, Pct ! !, Republican !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! , - , 1996 , , , Joseph M. Hoeffel , align="right" , 120,220 , , 49% , , , Jon D. Fox , align="right" , 120,304 , , 49% , , , Thomas Patrick Burke , ,

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

, align="right" , 4,930 , align="right" , 2% , , , Bill Ryan , ,

Natural Law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...

, align="right" , 525 , align="right" , <1% , , - , 1998 , , , , align="right" , 95,105 , , 52% , , , Jon D. Fox , align="right" , 85,915 , , 47% , , , Thomas Patrick Burke , ,

, align="right" , 3,470 , align="right" , 2% , , , , , , , - , 2000 , , , Joseph M. Hoeffel , align="right" , 146,026 , , 53% , , , , align="right" , 126,501 , , 46% , , , Ken Cavanaugh , ,

, align="right" , 4,224 , align="right" , 2% , , , , , , , - , 2002 , , , Joseph M. Hoeffel , align="right" , 107,945 , , 51% , , , , align="right" , 100,295 , , 47% , , , John P. McDermott , ,

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

, align="right" , 3,627 , align="right" , 2% , , , , , , {, class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%" , + Pennsylvania Senator (Class III): 2004 Results !, Year ! !, Democrat !, Votes !, Pct ! !, Republican !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! !, 3rd Party !, Party !, Votes !, Pct ! , - , 2004 , , , , align="right" , 2,334,126 , , 42% , , , , align="right" , 2,925,080 , , 53% , , , James Clymer , ,

, align="right" , 220,056 , align="right" , 4% , , , Betsy Summers , ,

, align="right" , 79,263 , align="right" , 1% , , * *Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2004, write-ins received 580 votes.

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoeffel, Joe 1950 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Montgomery County Commissioners (Pennsylvania) County commissioners in Pennsylvania Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania William Penn Charter School alumni 21st-century American politicians